Means for identifying brands of liquor contained in bottles.



No. 627,773. A, Patented tune 27, I899. H. ELLIS.

MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING BRANDS OF LIQUOR CONTAINED IN BOTTLES.

(Application'filad.JBn. 26, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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a I V UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFIcE.

HERMAN ELLIS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.-

MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING BRANDS OF LIQUOR CONTAINED IN BOTTLES.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 627,773, dated June 27, 1899.

Application filed January 26, 1899. $erial No. 703,421. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN ELLIS, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Means to Identify the Brand of Liquor Contained in a Bottle,of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to reduce the pecuniary advantage derived from the refilling of a'bottle with a spurious or a lower and cheaper grade of goods and not to prevent the refilling,if such course is determined upon,

. as will hereinafter fully appear.

Bottles which cannot be refilled or which are rendered; worthless for subsequent use in the act of discharging them of their contents are not looked upon with favor for the reason that their use implies a lack of honesty on the part of barkeepers and others whose duty is to hand to customers bottles containing whisky and other liquors.

The effect of the present invention is to place a premium on honesty rather than to prevent dishonesty; and to this end the said invention consists in a bottle for, say, whisky, containing a preferably non-.fioating device which is marked or inscribed with some lettering whereby it is identified with the original contents of the bottle and which is discharged from the bottle when the same is emptied and has a value over and above its intrinsic value for the reason that it is redeem able by the bottler or seller of the liquor. Such device preferably consists of a porcelain sphere bearing the trade-mark of the liquor contained in the bottle in full view within the bottle, and no package is guaranteed to be an original one unless it contains the sphere. Being of spherical form, the device will naturally roll out of the bottle in pouring out the last portion of its contents, and it is intended that it shall not be again used, but retained and eventually returned to the bottler or vendor for redemption in cash or its equivalent.

In the further description of the said invention which follows reference is made to the accompanying drawing, which represents an exterior side view of a bottle'provided with I the present invention.

Referring now to the drawing, A is the bottle, and B a non-floating sphere of porcelain placed loosely in the bottle. The sphere is smaller in diameter than the throat of the bottle, to admit of its insertion in the bottle when the same is filled with liquor and allow of its discharge when the liquor is poured out. The bottle-is provided with a label 0, on which is printed the trade-marlg which, for instance, may consist of a star, and the sphere is similarly marked, and, if desired, the sphere may have several stars, so that one of them will appear no matter how the device is placed or'what position it may assume on the bottom of the bottle. The label may also contain a notice calling attention to the fact that the genuine liquor contains the marked sphere and that none other should be used or bought.

In practice the spheres are collected and returned to the bottler or vender of the whisky, who pays a certain fixed price for them.

It is not held that this invention will defeat a determined effort to substitute a low for a high grade of liquor'in the refilling of a bottle; but it acts as a check on the dispensers of liquors and as such is valuable.

I claim as my invention An ordinary bottle having an unobstructed inner surface extending from the bottom to the top thereof which admits of the liquid contents of the bottle being fully discharged, combined with a label having some distinguishing mark, secured to the exterior of the bottle, and a ball which is smaller than the mouth of the bottle and has thereon a mark corresponding with that on the label, which is placed loosely in the bottle and maybe discharged therefrom with the liquid contents thereof, substantially as, and for the purpose specified.

HERMAN ELLIS.

Witnesses:

J. R. WILMER, A. H. DE ROUGE. 

